I have a nephew who's a bit of a sneaker enthusiast. He's done the whole line-up-at-midnight-for-new-Dunks thing, despite the fact that he's got size 14 feet. He's also a gamer and I took him to see a demo of NBA 2K12 earlier this summer. And, while he was polite enough not to ask about the in-game footwear in this year's edition of 2K Sports' b-ball franchise, I know he was burning to inquire. There was smoke coming out of his ears. Well, Tony, this one's for you.

The kicks connosieurs at Sneakerfiles and Deftronic have posted a walkthrough (shoethrough?) of the sneaks that'll be available in the game and it's a luxurious stroll through a whole lot of NIkes and a smattering of Converse. While hardcore collector may rage or swoon at the selection, two things strike my non-Nike-wearing self:

1. It'd be great to have some kind of cross-promotion integration with Nike's NikeID customization portal that lets you import your unique designs in to the game. Then, you could have posterfication highlights that show off your singular shoe pair.

2. Could shoe updates be yet another form of micropayment DLC crack? I have to think that a fair amount of 2K12 players would shell out 3 bucks for a half-dozen new styles every three months or so?

Last thought: Those new Back to the Future Nikes? Time Rewind power-up. You're welcome, 2K Sports dev team.